Tue05Jan16

Henry Ford’s Gr Grand Son had embraced Hinduism and took name of Mr. Ambarish Das converting from Alfred B Ford.. What he found and fascinated in Hinduism to embrace it.

Ambarish Das may not have been born Indian. His soul is Indian though.

Before he adopted his Hindu name, he was Alfred B. Ford. His mother is the daughter of Edsel Bryant Ford II, son of the legendary Henry Ford (founder of the Ford Motor Company). That makes him a fourth-generation Ford and a part of one of America’s most iconic families.

But this Ford has more on his mind than cars.

While studying at Tulane University, Louisiana, he heard Hindu religious music at the campus record store, for the first time. He broke down on hearing the record. It touched something deep in him. Thus began his involvement with Hinduism.

He married a Bengali girl and has since used his fame and wealth to spread the word of Hinduism and Krishna.
He travelled all over the world with his wife, also a devotee, to spread Krishna consciousness because he says “It is a spiritual science not just for Indians, but for everybody around the world.”“I had a lot of questions when I was growing up. When I was young, I used to wonder how big the universe was, what’s on the other side of the sky, who was God, what was He like – those kind of questions and things”, he said.

“My great grandfather Henry Ford would have been happy to see my lifestyle today, as he was also very interested in spiritual life and Eastern philosophy.
He used to practice yoga daily and read many of the Hindu scriptures. He believed in reincarnation and was a vegetarian. He was also a good friend of Paramahamsa Yogananda.”

So he would have been very happy with the lifestyle I am leading and the things I believe in.“I was looking for meaning in life and hadn’t found it in the faith I grew up in. I experimented and read several religious systems but as soon as I read the Bhagawad Gita, it was like a bell went off.
He said all the things that I was looking for: God is a personality. We have a relationship with God and by restoring that relationship we can go back to the spiritual world.”

“I lived as a recluse in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming for many years – reading, chanting and cooking vegetarian food.“

“I believe in the concept of ananda – unlimited happiness. Happiness is not something that has a beginning and an end – it is endless.”

“Some people get happy if they go shopping, have a good meal, or do well in an exam, get a job, make some money etc. but how long does the happiness last? It doesn’t last very long.”

Happiness cannot come from sensory objects. It comes from self-realization. It comes from realizing who we are, what is our dharma, what are we supposed to be doing, who are we supposed to be serving.

Once we find that and feel comfortable in that position, then we realize that that position cannot end. No one can take it away. There is no fear involved. That is the beginning of happiness because it is not temporary.

When I married Sharmila that was a milestone for my parents.

They were very impressed with her, she had a PhD, very well educated, accomplished woman and, of course, they love my children, Amrita and Anisha, too.

He assisted in the establishment of the first Hindu temple in Hawaii and also donated $500,000 to help establish the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center in Detroit which was completed in 1983.

Alfred Ford has made many significant donations over the years which have assisted ongoing projects such as to build the Pushpa Samadhi Mandir. He is also the chairman of the Sri Mayapur Temple of the Vedic Planetarium.

Ford also lobbied very hard to have a Vedic cultural centre made in Moscow at an estimated cost of $10 million but it was blocked by the communist government.He has recently bought a $6000,000 mansion to convert it into a temple and learning center in Honolulu, US

Like this:

Tue15Nov11

This is the unedited version of the article published in India’s HINDUSTAN TIMES on October 19, 2011 titled: “The I isn’t lower cased”.

Think about this. Around 13 billion years ago, from a micro point in an endless void, erupted a universe so immense that all the grains of sand, on all the beaches of the world, dont equal the hundred billion suns in our galaxy, the Milky Way, just one among a hundred billion galaxies in the vastness of space. How could everything that exists have come out of nothing? What triggered such an incredible cosmic convulsion? Scientists call it Big Bang, but dont know why it happened. We can only marvel at how those exploding particles of matter eventually transformed themselves into organisms as intricate as human beings. Whatever started that journey, our existence is the greatest miracle of all.

If we measured ourselves on a cosmic scale, our egos would be slimmer than a mosquito under a sle dgehammer. But we inhabit intersecting universes, the outer and inner. The worlds within us are probably as complex as the multiverse that surrounds us. The average human body has over ten trillion (10,000,000,000,000) cells, with 10 times as many microorganisms in our gut alone. The birth of a thinking, feeling human is as much a wonder as the creation of the cosmos. We are all loving, laughing, weeping miracles.

The human mind is yet another extraordinary dimension. Within each of us are the seeds of every vice and virtue, every genius, every horror, that ever existed. We can be murderers, prostitutes and saints. An Einstein or a duffer. A Gandhi or a drunkard. A Steve Jobs or drug dealer. Not one of us is alike in mind, body or spirit. We all have our peculiarities, and thats what differentiates us. Every human being is a unique experiment in consciousness.

Yet, for many, being different can be a perilous, painful path. From the cradle to grave, we are moul ded to conform by family, community, religion and society. We are trained to bow before their norms, rules, and beliefs for many historical reasons. From earliest days as hunter-gatherers, humans realised that teams survived, individuals didnt. Safety lay in numbers, the idea imbedded itself. With the advent of religion, thought control became a way of perpetuating the power of priests. Non-believers were shunned and shamed. They risked losing their family, their community and, often, their livelihood.

Opposing an established belief system has always been a risky business. Hinduism locked professions into a caste system for centuries, woe to him who defied it. Galileo was pounded into submission by the Catholic Church for daring to suggest that, contrary to what they believed, the earth orbited the sun. Muslims feared the threat of fatwas if they questioned their religion. Authoritarian regimes wielded the same terror: Communists, Nazis, Fascists, and dictators of ev ery stripe, all made life hell for those who opposed them.

While its good to agree to drive on the same side of the road, conformity has rarely created anything revolutionary, progressive or life changing. Every inventor of importance had to go beyond conventional wisdom. Even as professors lectured on the impossibility of flight, the Wright Brothers took to the air. Christ, Buddha and Prophet Muhammad were all revolutionaries in their times, defying established belief systems. As Albert Camus said, It is the rebels within society that make it dynamic. Many contrarians have created new worlds.

Today, being unique is less of a hazard. With the spread of the Internet, and the ever-expanding forums of social media, we are moving beyond the control of monolithic power centres. We are entering the Age of the Individual. No matter how contrarian you are, youll find enough like-minded souls to give you the strength to be you. Even if it means moving beyond family, community, politics or religion.

Individuality always doesnt have to be about big issues or inventions. It can be as simple as having the courage to speak up at a family dinner, even if called outrageous. Turning your passion into your profession, not being pressured by others expectations, or having an unusual lifestyle, whatever really matters to you. In the age of the Internet, we need not be so timid about unconventional ways, beliefs and ideas. What makes us individual are our differences, our idiosyncrasies, our eccentricities. Now there are many who will share your journey, and celebrate your individuality, each at the centre of their intersecting universes.

(Kabir Bedi is an internationally renowned Indian actor and columnist, whose career spans Bollywood, Hollywood, England and Europe. He has been a voting member of the Oscars Academy (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) for almost three decades. . In December 2010, the Italian Govern ment bestowed him a Knighthood, Cavaliere, its highest civilian honour.)